Beers of the Year

Tomorrow the GABS Hottest 100 Australian craft beers is announced. This is based on public votes from a list of beers the breweries have entered. It is basically a popularity contest and comes down to who has the best marketing. I will be following the countdown with both personal and professional interest. In the meantime, I have complied a list of my own favourites from last year. The only proviso is that I had to drink them last year.

Australia

3 Ravens Juicy IPA (6.5%) - With every man and his dog making a New England IPA, there have been some good ones and some bad ones on the market. This is one of the best. The 'guidelines' claim that New England IPAs are characterised by the choice of yeast (which gives a 'turgid' appearance - many prefer the terms cloudy or milkshake) and a rigorous, late dry-hopping regime, in which the hops are celebrated for flavour and aroma rather than bitterness. This does exactly what it says on the tin.

Barossa Valley Brewing Chocolate Coffee Stout (5.8%) - Flavoured with Peruvian cocoa nibs and Barossa roasted coffee, the English ale yeast adds a berry fruitiness. I drank this on a cold winter's day and loved its sweet, rich flavours and strong stoutness.

Batch Brewing Company Island Style Coconut IPA (7.2%) - Cascade and Mosaic hops (for fruity pineapple flavours) added to pale, wheat malts, toasted coconut and lactose make this a perfect getaway beer. It's like a tropical holiday - mellow, balanced, laid-back and totally relaxing.

Moon Dog Bad Boy Bubbly (13.1%) - If you've got champagne tastes but a beer budget, this is perfect. It's a sensationally smooth barley wine made with very pale malt, champagne yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops. It has the fine bead and intensity of a champagne but a beautiful beery malt, and is aged in new Hungarian oak to give it a little lactic kick. We had this on New Year's Eve, and it was a great way to usher in 2018.

Stockade Brew Co Mysterio IIPA (9%) - I first had this at the Beer Day Out beer festival in 2016. It was big and fruity and zesty like a tangerine dream and I loved it. Biscuity notes arrive from the malt with an almost gingerbread breath; it is quite sweet but beautifully balanced with the hop profile. The marketing says it is packed full of hops but doesn't reveal which ones - hence the mystery. I'd guess some sort of combination of Amarillo, Cascade, Galaxy, Simcoe? I could be totally wrong, of course.

Stockade Brew Co Old Money Barrel-Aged Bourbon Imperial Stout 2017 (12.5%) - Rich and big and boozy and beautiful, with chocolate notes and barrel-aged bourbon. Stockade took some of their World Beer Cup Trophy-winning Russian Imperial Stout and aged it in Woodford Reserve Kentucky bourbon bourbon barrels for six months. It has picked up some rich spicy depth and dried fruit sweetness. It's far outstripping inflation: superb.

Thirsty Crow Brewing Co Vanilla Milk Stout 5.2% - This is the best (some might say only) reason to visit Wagga Wagga. The beers are not distributed beyond the brewpub, but you can take away 750ml cans of rich creamy goodness. The damn fine milk stout is sweet and rich; thick and dark with a tan head, full mouthfeel, dark chocolate and coffee flavours, and a slightly bitter finish. The addition of vanilla from Madagascar lifts it to even higher levels.

Two Birds Brewing Knock on Wood (7.1%) - This barrel-aged Belgian blonde works so much better than it has any right to. The beer was released for the brewery's sixth birthday in June 2017 (because wood is a traditional sixth anniversary gift) and incorporates Belgian yeast esters of bubblegum and peach with plenty of oak and vanilla. It's a seriously good blend of the sweetness of a blonde with the tart, funky edge of barrel aging.

Wignall Brewery Belco Boyz (5.2%) - I'm a little bit biased because I love this style of beer (English Pale Ale) and it's made by Him Outdoors. It's clean and crisp with earthy floral hops, sweet malt and fruity esters.

New Zealand

8 Wired Bumaye (16%) - Insanely good imperial stout mellowed in pinot noir barrels for a year; raisins and rich fruit and a port-like consistency. Sensational.
8 Wired Wild Feijoa (2016) (6.7%) - Sour ale brewed with feijoas and aged in wine barrels. I don't really like feijoas, but this is the best use I've ever found for them. 
Behemoth Brave Bikkie Brown Ale (6%) - a brown ale brewed with cocoa nibs and coconut; like an ANZAC biscuit. Delicious.

Emerson's Brewing Company Barrel Proof Imperial Stout (10.5%) - Decadent stout aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels, with big boozy flavours and a fantastic balance of malts; this was my beer of show at Beervana 2017.

Renaissance Tribute Barley Wine (11.8%) - Like a boozy Christmas pudding; tasting of sherry, dried fruits and treacle - sensationally rich!

Te Aro Flanders Red Ale (7.6%) - Oak-aged funk with strong base malts.

Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude (7%) - 100% smoked peat malt makes this exceeding smoky and remarkably smooth - this was the sixth bottle ever produced. 
Yeastie Boys Royal Taninbomb (8%) - There are so many coffee beers that there should definitely be more tea beers - especially if they taste this good. It's an extra pale double Earl Grey IPA bursting with citrus and floral notes from the dry leafing with Earl Grey Blue Flower. Two of my favourite things (tea and beer) made by my second favourite brewer.

Rest of the World

Black Sheep Black Sheep Ale (4.4%) - An old favourite; the nutty, toffee, malty, hoppy characters are superlative; especially with Sunday lunch at the brewery.
Brakspear Brewing Company Bitter (3.4%) - I think this is my favourite ever beer. That is all.

Coniston Brewing Company No. 9 Barley Wine (8.5%) - Beer fresh from the source is always excellent, and this from the Black Bull in Coniston is seriously good stuff; rich, spicy, warming, fruity, everything...
Loose Cannon Brewery Gyle 1000 (7.5%) - Excellent imperial/ double IPA which is deep, rich and flavourful - caramel malt and sweet orange hop characters.
Russian River Brewing Company Supplication (7.75%) - Holy Russian River, Batman! This is awesome! Fruity aroma with high acetic acid; mouth-puckering sour fruit flavours with a woody edge.

Friday Five: Best of Beervana

Beervana has always been one of my favourite beer festivals. And when I say 'always', I mean from 2005 when I first went to it. From the early days in the basement of The Old Bank Arcade through the wilderness years in the Overseas Passenger Terminal, and the muscle-flexing times at the Town Hall, to its current incarnation at the Stadium. I've met people here who have become friends; I've formed memories and lost others; I've seen brewing trends come and go; I've seen hops, hops and more hops; and I've tasted many many beers.

A couple of hoppy people peering through the lights

This year I flew back to Wellington for the weekend. Direct flights between the New Zealand and Australian capitals were clearly meant to assist politicians, but the added benefit for beer drinkers is pleasantly palatable. I saw friends and family (and the much-mentioned four seasons in one day) and (according to my records on Untappd), I drank 62 beers. This was the best of the booze (in alphabetical order).

5 Favourite Beers:

1. 8 Wired Brewing Wild Feijoa (6.7%) - when he tasted this, Him Outdoors made a sound a bit like a kookaburra; 'Woohoohohohohohahahaha!' I think that means he liked it. I did too - it's sour and tart and packed with fruit flavour and for the first time ever feijoas don't taste like soap.
2. Behemoth Brewing Company Brave Bikkie Brown (6%) - Exceptional! Coconut and biscuity bready spices supported by a great English brown ale.
3. Emerson's Brewery Barrel Proof Imperial Stout (11.5%) - Decadent Imperial stout with big boozy flavours and fantastic balance of malts.
4. Te Aro Brewing Company Flanders Red Ale (7.6%) - Sour red, oak-aged funk with strong base malts: insanely good.
5. Yeastie Boys Royal Tanninbomb (8%) - I love this earl grey tea marvel. Two of my favourite things (tea and beer) are combined by one of my favourite brewers. The tannins in this brew are perfect.

Stu McKinlay and me

 

Behemoth Brewing Company had this whole beer and sweet matching thing going on; the theme was a chocolate factory with helpful oompa loompas in orange t-shirts handing out treats (chocolate fish; coffee beans; spoonfuls of nutella; Anzac biscuits) to enhance the flavours of the beer.

5 Favourite Breweries (Based on a complicated points system I can no longer remember):

1. 8 Wired Brewing
2. Behemoth Brewing Company
3. Kereru Brewing Company
4. Lakeman Brewing Co
5. Yeastie Boys

Tasting paddles from Kereru

Fabulous kereru head-dresses for the people serving the ale

Beervana 2011: Part Two

Now that's what I call real ale

Ta-Iti (Peak Brewery, 4%) - Now, that's a real ale! Low-carbonated hand-pulled tastiness.


Stu-dious drinking

Best Bitter (Cassels & Sons Brewing, 4.3%) - Surprisingly grassy and lemony for a bitter - if this were a wine it would be sauvignon, and it's not that far off as a beer, either. The tasting notes include the words 'gooseberry' and 'zesty', which isn't really what I'm after in a beer.

Hop Hog (Feral Brewing, 5.8%) - An American IPA that boasts a look of golden oranges and a smell of citrus pine needles. This tastes a lot better than it sounds and makes a refreshing drop. It's a quirky little Festival number - a short story in a glass.

Fat Yak (Matilda Bay Brewing Company, 4.7%) - Another American Pale Ale made in Australia, resulting in a malty fruity mix. I could taste cinammon and cloves but in more of an apple pie than a wheat beer sort of a way.

More random comments from discerning drinkers - "I'm impressed with the Australian beers; they seem to be smoother and more subtle - not a word I usually associate with Australians"; "Extremely bitter on the tongue and into the aftertaste, drowns out any other flavours" (Dusty Gringo, Deep Creek, 6.8%); "Drink more water!"; "Seriously, try the Boris - this is my third; it's brilliant!" (Boris, Feral Brewing, 11.5%)


Pretending we know what we're talking about



It's got a good nose, apparently

The Crown Prince (Ad Lib Brewing Co, 5%) - spiced pumpkin ale. Interesting. It really is bright orange, but it's got a delicate flavour, and is sweet and dry with lots of body. This is a fabulously intriguing beer of contradictions - a surprising favourite of the night.

South Island Pale Ale (Golden Eagle Brewery, 5.5%) - hoppy and malty, darker than the others and quite bitter. I would like to drink more of this, but have never see it anywhere.

Black Emperor (Golden Ticket Brewing, 4.6%) - I decided to move to the dark side but didn't want anything too strong just yet so thought this scharzbier would be a good choice. And I was right - bitter and black with very little sweetness - probably not for everybody but I enjoyed it.

Bennett's Classic Black (Bennett's Beers, 5%) - I've had this before but I knew I liked it - like a cold alcoholic coffee. I was trying to get some of the Garage Project's Manuka Dark, but there wasn't any, and the person behind the Wellington bar was short on advice and information.


Welcome to the dark side!

 iStout (8-Wired, 10%) - Imperial Stout that is creamy tasting without being actually creamy. It is black and tasty; those long imperial nights must just fly by with chocolate, malt, coffee and this.

Random comment update - "I am most impressed by the Aussies - I have to drag myself away from their stall"; "Good. Mmmm. Very good." (Old House ESB, Townshend Brewing Company, 5.3%); "Very deep, dark, smooth chocolate taste, recommended by J.C." (Doppelbock, Sprig & Fern, 8%); "A bit of liquorice - like a muddy puddle but without the grit" (Festivus 2011, 8-Wired, 7%); "Bugger, they've run out of Boris. What shall I do now?" (Boris, Feral Brewing, 11.5%)

RSB (The Emerson Brewing Company Limited, 5.2%) - An amber, fruity bitter. This is definitely a session beer, with a strong berry flavour, like a fruity cough medicine or a strawberry chupa chup.

 Black Bruge (Sprig & Fern, 5.4%) - created as a festive brew, I'd like to try this again. It was drinkable and I thought it tasted a bit like cake with a warm spicy flavour - more cakes and ale, please. I think I may have had too many other similar, because I found the taste didn;t stand out as much as it might.

 Black Op (The Emerson Brewing Company Limited, 8%) - Nice and tasty, piney and lovely. I enjoyed this very much - a wonderful end to a perfect evening.

mike's Imperial Porter (mike's Organic Brewery, 8%) - ooh, I liked this. It was full of yummy black goodness. Another one that I would drink again. That probably doesn't narrow it down too much, does it?


The Two Marks - like The Two Ronnies, but different

It's hard to compare different styles, and obviously there was a lot of the dark stuff - which I happen to like. I wasn't exactly conducting a scientific experiment or anything, but my top three would have to be Black Op, iStout, The Crown Prince, Ta-Iti, Fat Yak. Oops. That's five, isn't it? Oh well, it was a big night!

The Seventh Blackhurst Beer Festival (Part One)

Last weekend, it was time again for the annual Blackhurst Beer Festival. Due to various restrictions on importing beer, excise tax and lack of decent distributors down south, we changed the format slightly this year to include ten beers from New Zealand rather than from around the world. The results were equally interesting, however.

Beer number one - Steinlager Classic (5%)

This is New Zealand’s “top-selling premium beer” and the biggest beer export. Firmly aligning itself with yachting and rugby, it is best known for its advertising. It proclaims itself as New Zealand’s finest beer, and is ‘best served cold’ (remember – flavour surfaces at room temperature). It may be considered to be a triumph of marketing over matter; the New Zealand equivalent of Budweiser.

Some people like it, however, and claim it to be a good party beer for those who don’t like microbreweries. The beer itself has a distinctly grassy note with earthy overtones of biscuit and skunk.

Comments:
Golden colour lager; easy drinking
Freshly squeezed marsupial
Sprightly, light and easy to drink on a summer’s day
Honey tones with a whisper of grass
Watery
A good bead; titillating on the palate
Racy little number

It came home in sixth palce with a total of 36 points (out of a potential 70).

Beer number two - Monteith's New Zealand Lager (5%)

Brewed especially to export to the UK where half of the Kiwi population lives in London, this lager is a rival to the other one in the clear green bottle. It’s described as a ‘spicy and slightly fruity pilsner lager with a late hop aroma and a refreshing bitterness.’

The award-winning bottle design is embossed with a silver fern, and a black and silver label features an upright shovel reflecting its roots in the gold mining period of the 1800s. Launched to the cockwis in 2007, the original annual shipment of Monteith’s New Zealand lager sold out in three months. They’re obviously homesick for some things.

Comments:
Not the same as the first
Quite flavoursome; got some bite
Bitter aftertaste
Manuka nose; sweet, smooth and light; Burmese cat wees
Smells like the cheese aisle in a French supermarket
A lovely golden hue; some honey and apricots
Hoppy as a kangaroo; improves with each sip; needs a good steak

Slightly preferred to the other lager, this garnered 38 points and was 5th overall.

Beer number three - Harrington's Lazy Summer Sunday Lager (5%)

When we arrived in New Zealand in 1996 this Christchurch brewery (which had been going for five years at the time) was our only link to real ale. Gosh, how times have changed in the thriving multicultural city. Christchurch has a few more pubs too. But I digress...

Tangelos, coriander and crushed ginger... this is a Kiwi summer lager (Monteith's Summer Ale; Speight's Summer Harvest; Mac's Sundance). You either like them or you don’t; apparently it’s beer for people who don’t like the taste of beer and is very popular among women. Harrington’s makes 20 styles of beer so there should be something for everyone; this may or may not be it.

Comments:
Summer ale
Is that flavour that’s confusing my buds ginger?
Tastes like ginger fizzy drink
Smells like the dental clinic
Fairy liquid; suitable for Biffa Bacon’s mutha
Some fruit and ginger and spices; delicious on the nose, especially when you find yourself in it face-first
Floral, fruity lager; excellent with a Thai curry

This beer was eighth on the night with a total of 29 points.

Beer number four - Mac's Great White (5%)

Mac’s version of the Belgium witbeir has the best tasting notes I’ve read so I’ll let them tell you that their beer “imparts aromas of bubblegum, banana, Turkish delight and rose petals. However, you can also obtain rhubarb and custard from the warming glass not to mention an eccentric raspberry and aniseed combination, orange peel, mandarin and a floral note from the coriander.” Sounds like it’s got bite – geddit? I’ll get my coat...

Mac’s Great White won a gold medal at the 2008 Australian International Beer Awards, which is awarded to ‘an outstanding beer that displays the correct balance of taste, aroma and appearance appropriate for the style and excellent technical merit.’ Mac’s Brewery in Wellington used to be a favourite haunt, but Lion Nathan have now moved the brewery to Christchurch and and are going down the route of those ghastly themed brewbars à la Speight’s and Monteith’s – boo, hiss.

Comments
Tastes a bit like Hoegaarden
Bottom notes of soap
No one could possibly build this beer by design
Very mild – doesn’t taste like beer
Wheat and water; don’t like it much
The Ford Sierra of beer
Clearly cloudy – oh no, that’s a contradiction in terms
Slightly sour
Not nice to the nose – Rawleigh’s ointment
Ferret’s piss no. 5
If it was a wine it would be chardonnay

Definitely not a favourite on the night, this beer came 10th with 22 points, and that was even with one person voting it their favourite - what a crazy, diverse world we live in - well, he does anyway, as you can see.

Beer number five - Emerson's Weissbier (5%)

One of Dunedin’s finest exports. Only available in summer, an especially imported Bavarian yeast strain gives this beer it’s authentic German character. Fermented in the bottle, it is cloudy with a sweet bready aroma and notes of banana and sherbet; it is spicy and tart with grainy sweetness – sounds like a fun night out.

Richard Emerson sampled several local ales overseas and on his return to New Zealand (in 1993) he was disillusioned with the standard of beer – obviously. Now his mission is to provide “a quantum leap in the flavour of our beers.” This noble aim is clearly appreciated as Emerson’s won the New Zealand Champion Brewery at the Brew NZ awards 2009.

Comments:
Better than the last one but not much
Horrible; a great failure of the home brewer
Fizzy taste, more body, easy to drink
More bitterer than the last one
The Ford Mondeo of beer
Much nicer than the last cloudy beer
Mateus rosé?
Purely for medicinal purposes only

Obviously our drinkers are not fans of this style of beer (with one noteable exception) as this beer received a not so grand total of 28 points and came 9th.

We did pause to admire the sunset - waxing more lyrical about it as the evening (and the alcohol) wore on.
 To be contined in next post...

Beervana: Tasting notes (Part 2)

One of my favourite beers of the night was the Yeastie Boys’ Pot Kettle Black. This is an American style porter and very dark. With a bit of an interactive theme, punters were asked to state whether they preferred the handpull or the pressurised tap version.

Not just to be awkward, I preferred the smoother texture of the hand-pull, but I felt the chocolate and hop flavours came through better from the pressurised tap. Him outdoors stuck his nose in the tasting glass, took a swig, smacked his lips and muttered something about ‘orange and pine’.

I confused the boys at Croucher Brewing Company by waffling on about Peter Crouch. As you do. They were very kind and they also serve a damn fine drop of pale ale. This beer looks good, smells good and tastes good. It is good, and it has a hoppy, fruity, grassy feel that lingers – I would definitely try this again. It comes from a boutique brewery in Rotorua and is available in several outlets in Wellington (the website above has a full list of locations). I shall be looking out for it!

To my mind, Monteith’s is one of the best mass-produced beers in the country. I recently had a heated debate about whether or not it was a boutique beer. I said not. If you are owned by DB Breweries you are not, by definition, a boutique. They do, however, have a great advertising campaign which is neither sexist, ageist, or insulting to the intelligence, so that’s a refreshing change. They won the packaging award – I’m not sure whether this has anything to do with the adverts, but it’s all part of the same marketing department.

We tried a beer which I think (and I’m struggling to read my handwriting at this stage) was called 140W. It is a West Coast Pale Ale Reproduction and I’m pretty sure I liked it, but I would have to try it again to be sure.

I would also like another pop at the Emerson’s Old 95 . This was billed as an old English ale – how could I go wrong? The combination of hops and fruit is very well balanced and the nuance of toffee is not too sweet. Him outdoors sampled the Piny Stout (aged in pinot barrels, 5% stout), new for the festival apparently, and was again heard to mutter something about oranges – I think this may be his new obsession. On the other hand, it did win a silver medal in the ‘fruit, spiced and herb flavoured beers’ category, so perhaps he knew what he was talking about after all.

We paid a visit to the Dux de Lux brewery which again brought back memories of our time in Christchurch, although we never really took to the one in Queenstown. The lady at the stall said people had been coming up to her all night saying they had fond memories of the beer from when they were at Canterbury University . Weren’t they supposed to be studying, dear me, these students, tsk, tsk.

I tried the Sou’wester because I don’t remember having it before. I’m afraid I still don’t remember having it. I’m not sure whether this says more about the state of the ale or the state of me at this stage. Maybe I should have had the Ginger Tom, which always wakes me up!

Green Man Strong is exactly what it says on the tin (6.5%). When it was first released it sold out in 11 days, and it picked up a bronze medal here. It’s a Doppelbock aged in whisky barrels for 3 months, and then blended with best bitter. It’s quite sweet, as you would expect from this combination, but dangerously drinkable. It cost double beer tokens and I’m glad I only discovered it at the end of the night, or things could have got quite messy!

Incidentally, the Green Man brewery also won the accolade of Best in Class for their Enrico’s Cure. At 14.5%, this is a barley wine beer brewed without sugar by a German brewmaster. Scarred by memories of Carlsberg Elephant and other nasties in golden tins drunk by people in supermarket car parks, I avoided this particular brew, although I heard others say it was very nice. I think it’s odd that the class it won, is titled, ‘Experimental and non or low alcoholic beers’. Isn’t that a massive difference?

I finished up with a beer from the Twisted Hop, and although I don’t know which one, this seems in keeping with my usual experiences there. The whole thing has a sort of magical mystical quality to me. I know the bar is tucked down a side street in Christchurch, and I have had a couple of very good nights there. But I can never remember how to get there when I’m sober. It’s like Diagon Alley. Anyway, I know from previous experience that the Challenger is exceptional – well, I’m always up for it! Oo-er missus.

So, to sum up, I drank lots of beer, I like hops and I had a great night. My top three, entirely unscientifically based upon the way I was feeling at the time are Epic Pale Ale, Yeastie Boys' Pot Kettle Black, and Croucher Brewing Company Pale Ale. Anyone else?